AUGUSTA --- An inmate charged last year in two Richmond County murders was recaptured Tuesday morning after fleeing the custody of a Taliaferro County deputy who had stopped at a Thomson Waffle House.

Richmond County deputies said Andre Maurice Jackson, 30, drove away in an unmarked sheriff's department SUV around 3 a.m. Pursued through Columbia County, he was captured after crashing the vehicle in Richmond County, sheriff's Lt. Robbie Silas said.

He was being held Tuesday in the Richmond County jail.

Jackson, known as Poncho, was identified last summer as a suspect in the June 29 slaying of L.V. Wilson, 38, who was found dead in the 1900 block of Hainey Drive.

He was also charged in the July 2 death of Janee Jquanda Johnson, who was found stabbed to death in her apartment in the 800 block of Spruce Street.

According to authorities, Jackson and two other inmates were being transported by a Taliaferro County deputy when the vehicle stopped at a Waffle House in Thomson. Taliaferro Sheriff Marc Richards said this morning that the three inmates were being taken to Augusta State Medical Prison to await transfer back to other state prison facilities.

Jackson had been in Wilkes County, where he had a court date for an April 2010 arrest for DUI and marijuana possession, the sheriff said.

Richards said Deputy Daryl Evans, a 28-year-veteran, went inside to get the inmates some food but left the keys in the vehicle. Two inmates -- identified as Johosephis Pierce, 32, and Bradford Reid, 29 -- came inside the restaurant, saying Jackson had told them to get out or come with him.

He said he is evaluating disciplinary action against the deputy, as well as a review of procedures on inmate transfers.

Stopping is not usual, the sheriff said, but it happens.

Although secured with handcuffs and leg-irons, Jackson had managed to get control of the vehicle and drive away, the sheriff said.

Deputies from Columbia and Richmond counties chased him, at one point deflating three of his tires with stop sticks. But Jackson continued to drive until he crashed at Barton Chapel Road and Frankie Industrial Boulevard in Richmond County.

He got out of the car and ran but was soon captured.

Jackson is charged with fleeing and attempting to elude an officer, reckless driving and obstruction of an officer, according to Richmond County jail records.

He also faces charges of escape and motor vehicle theft in McDuffie County, Silas said.

According to the state Department of Corrections Web site, Jackson has an extensive record of drug, theft and extortion charges in addition to the two Richmond County slayings.